BREAKING: Atlanta Braves option Michael Soroka to AAA Gwinnett

The Atlanta Braves announced some roster moves today, including one that's unfortunate but expected:

The #Braves today claimed INF Lucas Williams off waivers from the Los Angeles Dodgers and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett. To make room on the 40-man roster, Atlanta transferred LHP Max Fried to the 60-day injured list.

The club today also optioned RHP Michael Soroka to the…
— Atlanta Braves (@Braves) June 5, 2023

Soroka's story is incredible - making it back to the major leagues after two torn Achilles in a span of two years is incredible, and no one will take that moment away from him.

But now the goal is to return to the effectiveness that we know is in there, and Soroka's got some more work to do. In his two starts this season - last week against the Oakland Athletics and yesterday against the Arizona Diamondbacks - Soroka is 0-1 with a 8.38 ERA in nine and two-thirds innings of work, striking out five and walking six. He's given up three homeruns and just generally not had the location of his arsenal to prevent runs, as this tweet from our own Jake Mastroianni illustrates:

Michael Soroka's spray chart from Arizona to Oakland. You can see the lack of command of the slider and change-up against Arizona. And a lot more 4-seamers and sinkers over the middle of the plate. Umpire view. Red = 4-seam. Orange = sinker. Green = change-up. Yellow = slider pic.twitter.com/RZkQcP29xW
— Jake Mastroianni (@ShortStopBall) June 5, 2023

Soroka made it back to the bigs - now the goal is to get him back to being Michael Soroka, and he'll be up to stay.

Also, Max Fried was moved to the 60-day IL as he continues recovering from his strained forearm. Shouldn't drastically change the timetable for his rehab, as he'll still need multiple weeks of minor league work before he's ready to return to Atlanta.

The infielder claimed by Atlanta, Lucas Williams, was a 2015 3rd rounder by the Philadelphia Phillies who has gotten major league service time with five different organizations, most recently the Los Angeles Dodgers. He's 1-10 with a stolen base on the season in his limited playtime for the Dodgers, having spent three innings at shortstop across four games and also pitching in a blowout. He's registered time at all three outfield positions and all four infield positions in his short MLB career.

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